Percy Jackson and the Olympians Fansite

Mr. Riordan updated his blog recently and talked about Camp Half-Blood #2, and The Kane Chronicles. He has finally narrowed down the release date for Camp Half-Blood #2 book one to October, and he is about to start The Kane Chronicles book 2.

The first book in the Camp Half-Blood series is with my editor now. And speaking of that, this is her last day at Disney. Jennifer Besser has been with me since The Lightning Thief. As I’ve mentioned before, she was instrumental in the success of the series, so it’s hard to see her go, but she’s going on to great things. She’ll be the v.p. and publisher at Penguin Putnam now, and I wish her all the best! I know she’s only begun to make her mark on the publishing industry. Good luck, Jen. Thanks for everything, and you’ll always have a guest room at Camp Half-Blood anytime you want to visit.

The wonderful Stephanie Lurie will now be editing the Kane Chronicles and the new Camp Half-Blood series at Disney, so I know the books are in good hands. I still remember when Stephanie took over as editorial director at Disney. My friend Neal Shusterman pulled me aside at the Bologna Book Fair and told me how lucky we were to be getting Stephanie. Neal was definitely right!

As for the Kane Chronicles, I’m getting really excited about the release. The first finished copies of The Red Pyramid arrived today, and they look great. The book will be in stores May 4. The launch event will be at Symphony Space in New York, and I understand tickets are almost sold out already, so if you’d like to join us, you might want to book soon. More events will be announced shortly. I’ll be on the road for two weeks, and can’t wait to get out and meet some of you guys. I also just found out that my friends at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, GA are doing a ‘Camp Kane’ this summer based on my Egyptian series and their own wildly popular Camp Half-Blood. Guess what? Camp Kane is already sold out! Thanks to Diane and the gang at Little Shop for all their incredible support. I hope the kids have a great time going Egyptian this summer.

It looks like the new Camp Half-Blood series will launch in October, but when I have more details I’ll let you know. As you can imagine, I was nervous about how this new book would work after the success of Percy Jackson. Would people accept a return to that world in a slightly different form? To my surprise, everyone who’s read it so far, from my agent to my editors to my own kids, has said they like it even better. Wow – fingers crossed you agree.

Now, I’ve moved on to the second Kane Chronicles book. I’m just in the planning stages, but I have a good sense where the series is going and Carter and Sadie are in for quite a ride!

In other news, I just got my first peek at the fully colored pages for the Lightning Thief graphic novel. It’s looking very sharp. As soon as I have a definite release date for that, I’ll let you know. The Percy Jackson series continues to steam along on the New York Times bestseller list, and I have you guys to thank for that! I appreciate you reading and recommending the books to your friends. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the Percy Jackson Ultimate Guide, too. So glad you’ve enjoyed it.

[Source: Rick Riordan Blog]

Catherine Keener, who plays Percy’s Mom Sally in The Lightning Thief is celebrating her 51st birthday today! So we’d just like to say Happy Birthday Catherine! We hope your day is great and joyous!

Feel free to post your birthday wishes to her – who knows, she may see this post!

Mr. Riordan was interviewed at The Met by those at Mortalnet. He talked about the chances of a prequel series about Thalia, Luke and Annabeth.

He talked about his new Camp Half-Blood series, but remained very tight-lipped about the whole thing and he talked a bit about The Kane Chronicles. Anyways, here’s the interview of Mr. Riordan!

Q: What is the time lapse from the end of The Last Olympian to the beginning of the new Camp Half Blood series?
A: It’s not long, I can’t tell you specifically how long but not long.

Q: How many books will there be in The Kane Chronicles series and in the Camp Half Blood series?
A: There will be 3 books for The Kane Chronicles and 5 books for the Camp Half Blood series.

Q: Will The Kane Chronicles and Camp Half Blood series storylines ever cross paths?
A: No, they exist in the same time in the universe, but they won’t cross paths. That would just get too confusing for the readers and me.

Q: Have the film rights been sold for the entire Percy Jackson and the Olympians series?
A: No, only the first book, with Fox’s option to purchase the next book, if they decide to make another film.

Q: In your tweets from Greece, you said you had heard new Greek myths. Will any of those stories be in the Camp Half Blood series?
A: Yes, some of those stories will be in the new series.

Q: Are you planning to write a prequel of the adventures that Thalia, Luke and Annabeth had before they went to Camp Half Blood?
A: Many people have asked me, and I have thought about it, I’m not really sure. Right now I am too busy with the other two series.

Q: We have heard from the publishers that The Red Pyramid will be an estimated 528 pages. Will the Camp Half Blood series be longer books than those in the Percy Jackson series?
A: Yes, they will be. I can’t give you the number of pages, but they will be longer books.

Q: For The Sea of Monsters movie, could you be the screen writer or executive producer?
A: No, when you sign the rights away, all you can do is hope they will take your input, but it is no guarantee they will use it.

Q: Christof, the Webmaster for Mortalnet.com, is really curious about magic in Percy’s world. Is magic only inherited from godly parents, or is it possible to learn magic that you haven’t inherited?
A: Yes, with Hecate being at camp there will be more magic. But most magic is inherent in the gods. However, like Circe in the first series there are witches. Most of the magic will be in forms of enchanted objects or through godly parents.

Q: Will Annabeth and Percy be active in the next series, or will they become akin to the heroic tales of Theseus and Hercules?
A: They will be very active in the new series.

Q: Kronos can not die. Should readers be ready for his return?
A: There are many other forms of evil to throw at them without Kronos. They will face plenty of dangers in new forms.

Q: In The Kane Chronicles, are you handling Egyptian mythology in general terms, or have you chosen a time period in Egyptian history and specific Pharoahs?
A: The mythology will be in general terms.

Q: How did you prepare for The Kane Chronicles?
A: I spent a lot of time reading.

Q: In The Titan’s Curse, you never fully describe Zoe Nightshade. Can you tell us how you imagined her?
A: That ’s a good question. I never really had a fixed image of her in my head.

Q: Do you ever visit your fan sites?
A: No, because I just don’t have the time. My wife does often.

[Source: Mortalnet]

The Lightning Thief movie has hit the $200 million mark at last! According to Boxofficemojo it has made about $202 million which is awesome because many have said that the $200 million mark was the deciding factor whether or not the series continued on film.

So we should hopefully be hearing news for The Sea of Monsters in development soon!!

Rick Riordan was recently in New York for a event at The Met. He talked about the new CHB series coming this fall, as well as the new Egyptian Mythology series “The Kane Chronicles” book one coming out this May. Another interesting bit was that he has never seen the movie for PJO and doesn’t plan to. You can read the full news piece below…

Rick Riordan, the author the bestselling “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” series of books for young readers, paid a visit on Sunday to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City to discuss some of his classical inspirations.

The first book in his series, “Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” tells the story of a troubled young boy with ADHD and dyslexia who discovers that the Greek gods are real, and that he’s actually the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, god of the sea.

Riordan kicked off his talk at the Met’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium by apologizing for the rainy weather outside. “Thanks for braving Zeus’s storm!” he told the audience, which was largely made up of young children and parents.

During the presentation, Riordan said he planned to launch a new “Camp Half Blood” series in the Fall of 2010, most likely in October, though the final details haven’t been set. In his books, Camp Half Blood is a special area that shelters and trains the children of gods and mortals.

He also talked about his coming book “The Kane Chronicles, Book One: The Red Pyramid.” The new series draws on the myths of Egypt, and is due out May 4.

“I was fascinated by how magic works in Egypt,” Riordan told Speakeasy in an interview after the event. He said he was intrigued by the section in the Bible in which Moses confronts Egyptian magicians. “I wanted to explore the Egyptian idea of magic,” he said.

Recently, a big-screen adaptation of “The Lightning Thief” was released into theaters. Riordan said he hasn’t seen the film and doesn’t plan to. “Books and movies are so different,” he said. He said he wanted to keep his own images of his characters in his head and didn’t want them to be replaced by someone else’s interpretation.

[Source: WSJ]

Today, March 16th, is Alexandra Daddario’s 24th birthday! We’d just like to say Happy Birthday Alexandra!

You are special to all of us. Hope you have a great day.

We’ve been pretty busy around here the last several weeks, but now that the series is taking a breather from the movie, we had a few minutes to spare to put these 3 new wallpapers together for you.

You don’t want to waste any time on this page because we have posted them here for your convenience.

Just click on the image of the wallpaper you want and you will be taken to the full resolution version at twitpic.com. Have a good week!

Rick Riordan has updated his blog Myth and Mystery with some exciting news! The manuscript for the new Camp Half Blood series is at last complete! He read it to his kids, who are the first to experience the new books, and they said it was terrific.

I’m pretty excited! He again says that the book will be published this fall! Woo hoo! Anyways, you can read his blog post below.

We had a nice week in the Riordan house as I finished up the manuscript for the first book in the new Camp Half-Blood series. It’s always quite a relief to wrap up a manuscript, even though I know there are months of revisions ahead of me before it’s ready for publication in the fall. Still, the majority of the work is done.

The story is in place. And best of all, I got to read it to my kids! Haley and Patrick are always my first editors. Reading it aloud to them, I can quickly tell whether it’s going to work for kids, which parts need tightening, which parts might be confusing. Becky was reading the manuscript at the same time, and we all finished it yesterday.

Their verdict? Becky gave it thumbs up. Her first comment, “Wow, the fans are going to be so pleased.” I can’t tell you why, of course, but she had good reasons for saying that. When I put Patrick to bed last night, he said, “Thanks for writing a masterpiece, Dad.” LOL. You’ve got to cherish feedback like that.

Haley told me jokingly that I had gone from being his third favorite author to his second favorite. Woohoo! I’m not sure if I displaced Derek Landy or Suzanne Collins, but either way it’s quite a compliment. Both boys wanted to know when the next volume of the series will be ready. They’ve decided this book is one of my best, and I hope they’re right — and of course, I hope you agree when it’s published in the fall. Now it goes off to my editor.

No hints on the plot — sorry! Title? Nope, can’t tell you that yet either. But I can promise you many surprises, and you will get to catch up with old friends as well as meet a cool new cast of demigods. As soon as I can say more — probably late in the spring — I will post on my website.

In the meantime, I’m gearing up for The Red Pyramid, which comes out in May. I can’t wait to share that story with you, too! I’ll be in New York for an event at the Met next weekend — which I understand is sold out. If you can’t attend, I’ll blog about it afterwards and let you know how it went.

Have a good week, everyone!

[Source: Rick Riordan]

So he hasn’t been gone from the big screen, but he’s certainly in a lot of films coming out! He was Chiron in PJO, he’s also in The Ghost Writer that came out a couple weeks ago, and The Greatest and Remember Me are coming out within the next month.

Here’s an interview that USA Weekend put up with him.

Pierce Brosnan will never be the same – the same debonair international spy known as James Bond he played so iconically in the ’90s. But no matter. Today, Brosnan is a full-time film actor who is busier than ever, juggling four new movies, five children and newfound visibility. “People think if they don’t see you as James Bond, that’s it, you’re retired,” he says. “That I’m still at the table is great.”

In addition to the recent Percy Jackson & The Olympians, he plays an ex-British prime minister in The Ghost Writer, opening nationally this weekend. Coincidentally, Brosnan, who lost his first wife to cancer in 1991 and almost lost his son Sean, now 26, in a car accident in 2000, plays a grieving father in two other films. In Remember Me (opening March 12), he plays dad to Twilight star Robert Pattinson, and in The Greatest (April 2 in New York and L.A.), he’s husband to Susan Sarandon. Recently, we spoke with him:

Q: What Is The Smartest Thing You’ve Done In Your Career?
A: Come to America [in 1982 from Ireland]. America allowed me to have this career and to bring up a family and nurture them. It took many years, but I feel American. I am an American citizen.

Q: What Was The Dumbest Thing?
A: There were a few contracts I should have looked at more closely. I won’t name names. I try not to accentuate the dumbness of life.

Q: Both Remember Me And The Greatest Deal With Family Tragedy. Did You Mine Your Own Life Experience For Those Roles?
A: I play men who were broken by the death of a son. I know what it’s like to deal with the death of a loved one, so yes, I called upon that. And I called upon the near loss of my son. ItÕs good to delve into that part of your life and show it.

Q: Is It Easier For Men To Grow Older Onscreen?
A: I don’t know why society doesn’t find women in their 50s and 60s sexy and adorable. Guys have gotten away with it for a long time! Long may it last.

Q: Do You Ever Have James Bond Dreams?
A: Thank God, I don’t. That would be very sad: ‘Excuse me, doctor, can I see you a moment? I keep on dreaming I’m in a penguin suit, suspended from a helicopter!’

[Source: USAWeekend]

Today, March 7th, is Brandon T Jackson’s 26th birthday! I’d like to say on behalf of all of your fans everywhere, but mostly here at percyjackson.org, Happy Birthday Brandon!

We look forward to many more great scenes and lines from future PJO series films (fingers crossed).

I hope you have a great day!